


Chassis

by Triss_Hawkeye



Category: Ghost in the Shell (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Smoking, Transgender Batou
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:40:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25931500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Triss_Hawkeye/pseuds/Triss_Hawkeye
Summary: Something doesn't sit right with Togusa when Batou asks the Major why she doesn't consider switching to a male-body model. He goes to call Batou out on it, and learns something unexpected when he does.
Relationships: Batou & Togusa
Comments: 8
Kudos: 26





	Chassis

**Author's Note:**

  * For [liobi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/liobi/gifts).



“I don’t get it, boss.”

“What’s there to get?” Batou was bad-tempered and aloof, having ducked out for a moody smoke break on top of the building, but Togusa wasn’t all that worried—in the time he’d been attached to Section 9, he’d figured out that was a common state in which to find the man. 

“Why you keep ragging on the Major about her so-called ‘female chassis’—I wouldn’t have taken you for a sexist, but, well. It sure sounds like you have a weird hang-up around having a woman on the team, sometimes.”

Togusa held his breath. He and Batou got on just fine most of the time, but sometimes he found himself overstepping the mark and pissing him off. Still, he felt drawn to be friends with the guy, in that way that sometimes happens, when you meet someone and have an inkling right away that the two of you will be close for years to come. And you have to call your friends out when they’re full of shit. 

To his surprise, Batou didn’t glower or snap back at him. He chuckled instead, pulling his cigarette up to his mouth and taking a long drag, as if to draw out the moment in which he was in on some joke that Togusa wasn’t. 

“That what you think this is, huh?” the cyborg asked.

Togusa found himself in no mood for the existential riddles the more cyberised members of Section 9 often found themselves indulging in. “Well, what is it then?” he asked, impatient.

“You know, the Major’s been full-prosthetic for as long as I’ve known her,” Batou told him. “Her whole adult life—longer than that too, from what I’ve managed to pick up, though it’s not like we sit around comparing childhoods or whatever. My point is, she has every option available to her to modify her appearance how she likes. And yet she doesn’t. She just goes with what she’s given.”

“Well, maybe she likes her body that way.”

“Maybe. Still, while her body periodically receives upgrades to stay top of the line, the appearance is that of a really early model. Likely there weren’t many options for her way back when—she just had to take what she was given. But she doesn’t have to, not any more. It's like she’s scared of having some existential crisis if she decided to look like anything else.” Batou stubbed out his cigarette against the wall, and the two of them stood quietly together, watching the traffic go by from the roof of Section 9 headquarters. 

Togusa cocked his head. “Isn’t that our lot, as humans? At least before prosthetic technology gets involved, none of us get to choose what we look like beyond the cosmetic surface level. It’s the luck of the genetic draw. So even if that body isn’t what the Major would have grown up into, doesn’t it all amount to the same thing, in the end?”

“Hm.” 

Togusa looked up at Batou, but his gaze was fixed into the distance, a frown making its way back onto his features. He expected that this conversation was over, but as he thought about heading back down, Batou spoke again.

“Togusa. If you had some accident and had to get a full-prosthetic body tomorrow, what would you want it to look like? Would you change anything about your appearance?”

Togusa considered this for a second, unconsciously bringing up a hand to scrub at his face. “I don’t know. I guess I’d just want it to look like me. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it would be neat to get the kind of strength and flexibility you and the Major have going on, maybe look a bit more toned in general—but I guess that’s not much different from the upgrades you guys get on the regular anyway.”

“Well, that’s nice for you. No, I really mean it,” he insisted, as Togusa gave him a sceptical sidelong glance. “Some of us aren’t so lucky when it comes to our relationship to our original bodies.”

Togusa scoffed. “No need to be so dramatic. It’s not that uncommon to want to change something about your appearance—we all go through it at one point or another. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten what puberty was like.”

Batou punched him in the arm, probably good-naturedly, but even pulling his blow it hurt like hell. Togusa winced and restrained himself from making a fuss.

“That’s just it,” Batou said emphatically, then turned away, as if embarrassed.

Togusa surreptitiously rubbed his shoulder while Batou wasn’t looking. “I don’t follow,” he admitted, unsure of exactly what turn this conversation had taken.

Batou seemed to weigh something up in his mind, and then gave a decisive huff. He turned back towards Togusa, a rare relaxed smile on his face.

“So here’s the thing, rookie. If I’d gone full-prosthetic as young as the Major did, chances are I’d look just like her.”

A few seconds passed as the puzzle pieces fell into place for Togusa, at which point he could only say a quiet, “Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Finally, Togusa gave a soft chuckle. “So, this isn’t really about the Major at all, is it, big guy? It’s about you.”

Batou smirked. “Whatever, smartass. I’m still not gonna get off her case about it.”

Togusa stuck his hands in his pockets and looked out over the city. He felt unexpectedly touched to be entrusted with this piece of information about his colleague, and somewhat undeserving. “Does the Major know?”

Batou shrugged. “I haven’t exactly sat down and told anyone on the team. Just you,” he said with a grin at Togusa, who ducked his head bashfully in response. “But she’s the best at what she does—she could’ve found out real easily looking into my past, or just guessed it, maybe. Anyway, I think that’s why she goes easy on me whenever I bring it up.”

Togusa snorted. “You call her getting you to punch yourself in the face, ‘going easy’?” 

“Eh, more often than not I have it coming.”

Chewing on the inside of his cheek for a moment before speaking, Togusa asked, “Hey, if it’s not too personal a question… what was it like, finally getting the body you wanted?”

“It was a pain in the ass, is what it was—all that paperwork convincing the GSDF to sign off on it, geez. But when I finally got it…” He shrugged, then flexed for the hell of it. “I guess it felt like coming home.”

Togusa smiled. “I’m glad to hear it.”

“Oh yeah? Well I’ll tell you what I won’t be glad to hear—the Major tearing us a new one for taking too long a smoke break. Come on, back to work with you.”

“Whatever you say, boss man.”

Batou laughed and slapped him on the back. “Yeah, you’ll do.”


End file.
